Come Out of Your Cave Walking on Your Hands

I recently discovered a wonderful band that have been making fantastic music for several years, a habit of mine, it seems.

Mumford & Sons are an indie/folk/rock fusion group with an Irish gypsy drawl. Their music has been gaining popularity the past few years since their single 'The Cave' was realised. However a leant ear to their new album 'Sigh No More' Will be well worth your while, with a diverse collection of songs including fast paced 'Little Lion Man' and the gentler ballad 'Winter Winds'.

So if you're looking for something to take your ears through Autumn, this may be the band.

Updating

Apparently updating this blog is something that I do very rarely, which defeats the purpose of a blog really. So, I'm making a statement here that I will blog at least once a week about something.

What that something will be is a mystery, but that's really the only way that I get through life anyway, so that's the way it shall be...

Greg Bear

After three years of searching for a story that I could really get lost in, I very nearly decided that I had made a mistake in considering myself an 'avid reader of fiction'. However, I hadn't before considered American literature as something I'd enjoy (blame my English teachers). This was a mistake, and one I intend to learn from.

The Infinity Concerto, one of the best books I've read in quite a while, was written by Greg Bear back in the 1980's. Unfortunately I hadn't been born yet, so I certainly wasn't old enough to read about Michael and his adventure into the Realm, but I've made up for that now. The story takes place in the 80's focusing on a teenage boy, a poet, who becomes good friends with Arno Waltiri, a respected composer, who is quite a bit more mysterious than he seems. As the novel progresses a completely new world is discovered, it's inhabitants both charming and terrifying.

The sequel to The Infinity Concerto is The Serpent Mage, but rather than being a sequel in the traditional sense it is a direct continuation of the story. Obviously I want to avoid saying too much, but there is far more to explore and many questions are answered. Bear really seems to enjoy seeing how different situations change a character and he does a fair bit of experimenting in this second half.

Although the story is incomplete without the second book, I have to say that I enjoyed The Infinity Concerto a little bit more, however it seems that most other reviewers thing the alternate; either way if you like SF or fantasy I think that you'll enjoy giving Greg Bear a read.

An Ode to Computer Games

The Playstation Network is on the blink, Half-Life 2 freezes at 'Our Benefactors' and my computer crashes about once a month. This made me wonder - what would life be like without gaming?

Now I know there are other things to do, they just don't provide the instant immersion that I want from my escapism. A book is brilliant, as long as you can get comfortable, a movie is magnificent, if you have the time, but a game - I've played games in some of the most awkward conditions, with only 15mins to spare, perched on the end of rooftop or huddled in a vacant corner. Games are God.

Okay, so maybe that last comment was a little bit excessive, but they've stopped me from strangling the majority of my family for years. (Siblings are different) I can't count the number of people I've shot, maimed and thrown off ledges with a gravity gun over the years, but if I hadn't I'm sure I'd be a much less relaxed individual.

I must admit games have, at times, funnelled my frustration into an even purer rage by crashing, lagging, glitching and re-spawning me right in front of an enemy, but they have earned the right to annoy me every-so-often by being there when I need them most.

So long as they keep me entertained, I can't think what I'd do without them - probably something more with my life...